Gratuitous Historickal Posting

This is interesting, if rayther gruesome:

Skeletons found at an unearthed site in Mexico show Aztecs captured, ritually sacrificed and partially ate several hundred people traveling with invading Spanish forces in 1520.

Skulls and bones from the Tecuaque archeological site near Mexico City show about 550 victims had their hearts ripped out by Aztec priests in ritual offerings, and were dismembered or had their bones boiled or scraped clean, experts say.

The findings support accounts of Aztecs capturing and killing a caravan of Spanish conquistadors and local men, women and children traveling with them in revenge for the murder of Cacamatzin, king of the Aztec empire's No. 2 city of Texcoco.

Of course, the Aztecs had a habit of ritually murdering not just invading Conquistadors, but also members of various subservient tribes within and around their empire. In fact, one of the chief reasons Cortez was able to succeed was a hearty local sickness of the Aztec hegimony.

But this part of the article, I do not understand:

Experts say the discovery proves some Aztecs did resist the conquistadors led by explorer Hernan Cortes, even though history books say most welcomed the white-skinned horsemen in the belief they were returning Aztec gods.

"This is the first place that has so much evidence there was resistance to the conquest," said archeologist Enrique Martinez, director of the dig at Calpulalpan in Tlaxcala state, near Texcoco.

"It shows it wasn't all submission. There was a fight."

This strikes me as misleading. Certainly Cortez got all the way to the Aztec capital the first time due to Montezuma's hesitancy, apparently caused at least in part by his belief that the invaders were gods. But relations quickly soured and then turned violent. Cortez had to cut his way out of the capital and scurry back to the coast, pursued most of the way by Aztec warriors. He then rearmed, beefed up his army with reenforcements and returned. And I promise you, there was no submission along the way.

The only thing I can think of is that this latest find demonstrates open opposition to Cortez's initial march. But even then, the histories I've read suggested there were plenty of senior Aztecs who thought Montezuma was out of his mind for letting the Spanish come on.

By the way, a very interesting first hand account of Cortez's campaign is The Discovery and Conquest of Mexico: 1517-1521 by Bernal Diaz del Castillo, one of Cortez's soldiers.